PACE Called For Russian Assets To Be Transferred To Ukraine In Accordance With ECHR Rulings
- 30.09.2026, 22:01
We could be talking about hundreds of billions of euros.
Russian assets frozen in European countries must be used to pay compensation to Ukraine in accordance with the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in two interstate cases against the Russian Federation, the amount of which “could potentially reach billions, tens, or even hundreds of billions of euros.” This is called for in a resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which was adopted on Wednesday, September 30, in Strasbourg, reports DW.
The Assembly recommends establishing a special “funding mechanism” under the auspices of the Council of Europe, to which repurposed Russian assets could be transferred to fund compensation payments to Ukraine in accordance with ECHR rulings in cases against Russia.
The resolution notes that the ECHR has held the Russian Federation responsible for serious human rights violations in two judgments on inter-state cases initiated by Ukraine. One of these concerned human rights violations by the occupying authorities in Crimea, which was annexed by the Russian Federation. The second was “Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia” — events in Donbas beginning in 2014, specifically the downing of flight MH17 and the full-scale Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
In both of these cases, the court found that “the nature and scale of the violations committed were unprecedented in the history of the Council of Europe,” as Russia violated the Council of Europe’s fundamental values and the foundations of the international legal order. “Although the issue of determining the amount of just satisfaction in these two inter-state cases has not yet been resolved, given the scale of the damage caused to Ukraine, the amounts awarded could potentially reach billions, tens of billions, or hundreds of billions of euros,” the document states.
In light of this, PACE members believe that redirecting frozen Russian state assets to pay compensation pursuant to ECHR rulings in cases against the Russian Federation “would constitute a legitimate countermeasure under international law.”
In addition to compensation for Ukraine’s interstate claims, the remainder of Russia’s debt in payments awarded by the ECHR in other cases amounts to more than 3.3 billion euros, including interest for late payment, the resolution states.
Of this amount, more than 424 million euros is owed in inter-state cases involving Georgia, €2.9 billion is owed in individual cases against Russia, of which €2.7 billion relates to the “Yukos” case, the resolution notes. At the same time, Russia’s debt will continue to grow, as nearly 6,000 applications against the Russian Federation are pending before the ECHR, a significant portion of which concern Russia’s war against Ukraine, the document states.
In light of this, PACE proposes that member states adopt legal measures to use Russian state assets frozen on their territory to pay compensation to Ukraine and channel these funds into a specially created financing mechanism. At the same time, the resolution calls on Council of Europe member states to ensure the enforcement on their territory of ECHR rulings requiring Russia to pay compensation “to the extent permitted by national law.”
Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe in March 2022 due to its war against Ukraine. On September 16 of that year, it ceased to be a party to the European Convention on Human Rights, on which the ECHR is based. Russia remains accountable to the court for human rights violations committed prior to that date. However, since its expulsion from the Council of Europe, Russia has refused to comply with the ECHR’s rulings.
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